Safe Shipping Without Bubble Wrap: Innovative and Fully Recyclable Paper-Based Mailers

Smurfit Kappa has completed a large-scale sustainability project at its Zülpich paper mill in Germany, which significantly reduces the plant’s CO2 emissions. The €11.5 million investment included a major redesign of the plant’s multi-fuel boiler to provide a more sustainable fuel source for the generation of steam and electricity. The mill, which produces approximately 500,000 tonnes of paper annually, is now powered by a combination of its own biogas, which is a by-product of its circular water treatment plant, natural gas, and the residual materials or so-called ‘rejects’ which occur in the paper recycling process that would otherwise be considered waste. The project reduces CO2 emissions at the Zülpich paper mill by more than 25% and saves 55,000 tonnes of CO2 annually, which represents a 2% reduction in Smurfit Kappa’s global CO2 emissions. Smurfit Kappa has the goal of achieving a 55% intensity reduction in fossil CO2 emissions by 2030 and at least net zero CO2 emissions by 2050. The packaging leader has also had its 2030 emissions reductions targets validated by the Science Based Targets initiative as being in-line with the Paris agreement.

Huhtamaki has strengthened its manufacturing capacity for smooth-molded fiber packaging. Smooth molded fiber is a revolutionary and technologically advanced material that can be used to make very demanding food packaging and to replace hard plastic. Huhtamaki's production plant in Alf, Germany, is moving from the production of plastic products to the production of smooth-molded fiber products to meet the growing demand for plastic-free food packaging. In 2022, the Alpine unit plans to replace more than 2,000 tonnes of plastic with fiber. This modern, automated production unit will be able to produce up to 3.5 billion fiber products annually in the future. Alf's unit will be the first such large-scale plant in Europe with production capacity.

The Regional State Administrative Agency for Western and Inland Finland has given public notice of the environmental permit application filed for the Kaskinen paperboard mill of Metsä Board, part of Metsä Group, on 6 October 2023 The permit applications will be available for public statements and comments for 37 days at https://ylupa.avi.fi/fi-FI The mill project’s environmental impact assessment process ended on 22 September 2023 when the South Ostrobothnia Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment issued its reasoned conclusion. Metsä Board initiated pre-engineering for the new paperboard mill in Kaskinen in the autumn of 2022. Planning is based on fossil free production and world-class resource, production and environmental efficiency. Metsä Board estimates that any investment decision will be made in 2024 at the earliest.